Too Many Resumes, Too Little Time: Why It’s Okay to Get Help with Screening

Hiring’s supposed to be exciting—but let’s be honest, sometimes it’s just exhausting. The moment a job posting goes live, resumes start flooding in. And while it’s great to have options, the sheer volume can quickly become overwhelming. What starts as a search for the perfect candidate often turns into a juggling act: managing your day-to-day responsibilities while trying to sift through piles of applications before top talent slips away. As we wrap up our blog series on Hiring & Onboarding Practices, it’s worth acknowledging one of the most draining (and often underestimated) parts of the process: reviewing resumes. Let’s dive into why resume overload happens, how it impacts hiring timelines and team energy, and what steps you can take to get support without sacrificing quality or control.

Resume Overload is Real

Screening candidates sounds straightforward—until you’re 87 resumes deep and still haven’t found the right fit. Statistics show a corporate job opening attracts an average of 250 resumes in 2025, it’s no wonder hiring teams are feeling the strain. Despite this flood of applications, only about 4 to 6 candidates typically make it to the interview stage, which means hours are spent sorting through resumes that often miss the mark.

To make matters worse, 52% of hiring managers say they spend less than two minutes reviewing each resume, leading to rushed decisions and a higher chance of overlooking top talent. And for recruiters, the pressure is mounting—60% report feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of unqualified applicants they have to screen, often at the expense of other pressing responsibilities.

• Nearly 70% of HR professionals say they’re dealing with heavier workloads than they were a year ago.
• 1 in 3 HR leaders cite resume screening as one of their most time-consuming and energy-draining tasks.
• Talent acquisition professionals report spending an average of 23 hours per hire screening resumes alone.

Over time, this level of overload introduces real risks in identifying the right candidates. Delay in hiring arises—and the longer it takes to identify the right candidates, the more likely it is that top talent drops off or accepts another offer. Meanwhile, your team is pulled away from strategic work, morale dips, and burnout increases. What starts as an administrative challenge can quickly become a costly bottleneck, both in lost productivity and missed opportunities.

Easing the Resume Screening Burden

If your team is feeling the weight of resume overload, the good news is—you’re not stuck with the process as-is. There are simple, effective ways to ease the pressure without compromising the quality of your hiring decisions.

1. Get crystal clear on your must-haves.

Start by reviewing your job description and aligning with your team on the true non-negotiables. When everyone’s clear on what to prioritize—whether it’s industry experience, software proficiency, or certifications—you can eliminate unnecessary back-and-forth and speed up the decision-making process.

2. Create a structured screening rubric.

Whether you’re screening internally or delegating to others, a clear, standardized scoring system keeps evaluations consistent. It also helps reduce unconscious bias and makes it easier to compare candidates objectively, rather than relying on gut feel.

3. Leverage your applicant tracking system (ATS).

If you’re not fully utilizing the tools you already have, it’s time to revisit them. Many ATS platforms offer built-in filters or AI-powered features that can automatically flag resumes with your preferred keywords, qualifications, or formatting—cutting review time significantly.

4. Set dedicated time blocks for resume review.

Rather than squeezing resume review in between meetings or after-hours, block specific time on your calendar. Focused, intentional review time not only improves the quality of your screening but prevents task-switching fatigue and decision overload.

5. Consider outsourcing the resume review process.

If the volume is too high or your team is juggling multiple open roles, outsourcing the first round of resume screening may be your smartest move. A trusted partner can help filter applicants based on your criteria and hand off only the most qualified options—saving your team time, reducing burnout, and keeping the hiring process moving without sacrificing quality.

Strategic Support Starts with Screening

It’s easy to fall into the mindset that every part of the hiring process has to be managed internally—but that’s not always the most strategic or sustainable approach. As hiring needs scale and internal bandwidth shrinks, more organizations are rethinking how early-stage screening gets done.

That doesn’t mean handing over the entire process. It simply means identifying where your team’s time is best spent. Resume screening, while necessary, is often one of the most repetitive and time-intensive tasks in the process. By delegating it—whether to automated tools, shared internal resources, or external partners—you create space for your team to focus on interviews, candidate experience, and final decision-making.

In fact, companies that leverage automation or external support report up to a 75% reduction in time-to-fill. And teams that reallocate screening responsibilities free up an average of 13+ hours per role, allowing them to focus on candidate engagement—where real hiring decisions are made. Not surprisingly, businesses that streamline resume review also see a 32% drop in cost-per-hire.

Signs It’s Time to Get Help

• You’re buried in applications and missing top candidates because of slow response times
• Team members are showing signs of burnout or losing traction on other critical work
• You’re hiring across multiple roles or functions and struggling to keep up
• You want more consistency in how resumes are reviewed and qualified

Even if your team has handled everything in-house until now, letting go of resume screening might be one of the most strategic decisions you make this year. It saves time and it reclaims your focus.

Simplify the Start. Strengthen the Hire.

Hiring often slows down not because of one big issue, but because the early steps take too much time and energy. Reviewing resumes is one of those tasks that piles up quickly and pulls your team away from more meaningful parts of the process. You don’t have to push through it alone. With the right tools, clear priorities, and a bit of extra support, you can move faster, stay focused, and make better decisions without the overwhelm. Make hiring easier, more effective, and a little less stressful for everyone involved in 2025.